


A Good Ol' College Effort

by IggyBopIt



Category: Rammstein
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29351691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IggyBopIt/pseuds/IggyBopIt
Summary: It's Richard's first year of college and he's sharing a suite with someone that he ends up hating... and that person hates him back.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Richard Kruspe/Christoph Schneider | Doom, Till Lindemann/Christian Lorenz | Flake
Comments: 9
Kudos: 24





	1. A History Quiz and a Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Here's the college AU I talked about writing! 
> 
> I don't remember much about how the uni system works in Germany but I do know how it works here in California so...the boys are in school there. Not an exchange program, they all just chose to go there. Also I realize that realistically, it'd impossible for all of them to be 18 and in first year of college at the same time so for all intents and purposes...they're all 18 here. Looks wise I'm basing myself off of their Live aus Berlin so...1998. But we're in present time. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy the first chapter!

Richard walked into his dorm room, threw his backpack on the ground, and slammed the door before jumping onto his bed. Thankfully, his roommate Till was gone for the weekend, so he was free to sulk as much as he pleased. He’d just taken a quiz for a world history class that hadn’t gone so well despite all the studying he’d done in the week leading up to it. The good thing was that the lowest quiz score of the quarter got dropped, but he knew he’d have to study hard to not get a lower score than this one. Finding a little bit of comfort in that, he took his shoes off before hopping off his bed and grabbing his guitar. 

Till never really complained about the guitar playing, but Richard felt that it was just a bit of a bother since Till was usually either studying or sleeping when he was in the room. So his plan for this weekend was to play as much as he could and come up with new song material, taking the other man into consideration. They actually got along really well and were becoming better friends as time went by, so it wasn’t too bad of an arrangement over all. He could’ve ended up with someone worse as a roommate, like the tall guy across the hall. Not that he really _knew_ the guy, he'd never even talked to him, but he’d bumped into him a few times at the dining hall and at the campus bookstore and he’d been a right bitch. He was always in front of the exact thing that Richard needed, so he’d say excuse me to try and get the guy to scoot over, but all he’d get in return was a smug grin and a roll of the eyes. He also wouldn’t fucking move, so Richard had to wait until he was done doing whatever the hell he was doing to actually get his things. He never even grabbed anything!! He just stood there, being a dick, before walking away. 

Trying to get his mind off of the nuisance that was his suite-mate, Richard started fiddling around with his guitar, tuning it and warming up by playing “Detroit Rock City” by Kiss, one of his favorite songs. It didn’t take too long before he got into the groove and felt his earlier disappointment fading away, making room for nothing but the comfort that the music brought with it. He started on something original after he was done with his warm up, completely enveloped in the sound and feel of the guitar. He was just about to get to the point where he’d play a solo, which he was struggling to put together, when he was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. 

“Either turn that the hell off or turn it down, it’s too fucking loud!” He heard, in a thick German accent. 

Huh, he thought there were only three Germans -Richard, Till, and the short suite-mate Paul- in their floor…he’d have to find out who the voice came from. He got up quickly in hopes of seeing who had interrupted him, but the only thing he saw was the door across the hall from him closing. Fuck. He didn’t know what to do from there. On the one hand, it was 8pm and he was hungry enough to go down to get some food and forget about what happened, since he realized he _had_ been playing kind of loud. On the other hand, that fucker had been such a monumental pain in his ass in the 5 weeks since they’d moved in that he didn’t really need an excuse to go and start a fight. It’s not like Richard couldn’t hold his own, he still remembered his wrestling moves and he was keeping up with his weightlifting at the university’s gym. Besides, the guy might be a bit taller than him but he’s skinny. With his mind made up, Richard pulled on his shoes and grabbed his keys before walking to knock on the other guy’s door. He quickly checked his eyeliner for any smudges on the way out.

____

Schneider had been having a horribly bad day. His car broke down before work in the morning so he had to walk, which would have been fine except it was hotter than hell despite it being the middle of October. Fucking California. Work went well other than him feeling like he needed a shower. Afterwards, he was able to hop in and wash up quickly before he needed to leave for a history quiz... Or at least, that’s how it should’ve gone. Instead, he got in and the shower stopped working halfway through him rinsing shampoo out of his hair. Unsure of what to do, he walked out of the bathroom and ran to the one that was for the suite on the other side of the floor of his building. The nice thing about this specific dorm was that each suite had an individual bathroom but as it turned out, it was also the bad thing about this building if you were in a rush and needed to get under another shower head quickly. Rushing back to his room after he finished rinsing himself off, he quickly put on some clothes, grabbed his backpack, and checked his watch. Fuck, he was gonna be late for his quiz. 

He had half a mind to grab his skateboard and ride it to the lecture hall, but there were always a ton of people walking around campus at this time so it’d probably slow him down. He ran instead, trying to quickly catch his breath before stepping into the room. Thankfully, he made it within the 10 minute grace period, so he was able to take the quiz instead of having to accept the 0, not that it helped much though. Not only was he blanking on all of the information that he’d definitely studied, he was also distracted by the person he ended up sitting behind. The messy ear length hair, which looked kind of silver, and broad shoulders seemed vaguely familiar, and the guy kept tapping a beat that was also vaguely familiar to Schneider. He couldn’t concentrate on his quiz and just ended up guessing on everything before getting up and turning it in, eager to get the hell out of the room. 

Once outside, he went to the HUB and got some food, which actually went okay much to his surprise. He got poke, a little expensive but very delicious and very worth it. He sat at a table by himself, scrolling through his social media and eating without a rush. It was a Friday, which tended to be his least busy day. He’d planned it exactly like that so he could have as much time to himself as possible since his roommate always spent the weekends with his band and didn’t actually sleep in their room until Sunday night. 

Walking up to his door, hunger satiated and ready to lay down for a bit, he heard the sound of a guitar coming from the room across the hall. It was loud. There was that same beat from earlier!! Interesting…he didn’t know the guy from across the hall played an instrument. He never really saw him that much to be honest, just a few times in the past few weeks but he liked riling him up when he did bump into him. Something about it was just fun to Schneider. As much as he liked the song though, “Detroit Rock City” he realized, it was getting kind of late and he wanted to relax so he knocked on the door, yelling at the other man to turn it down or off. Either one worked for him really, as long as there was some semblance of silence. Satisfied with himself, he went into his room and laid on his bed. 

It hadn’t even been 5 minutes before he heard a strong knock on his door. Must be the local musician…well, _another_ musician since his roommate played guitar and Schneider himself played the drums. Hauling himself up from his bed and onto two feet, he walked towards the door, unsure of what to expect when he opened it. 

“That was rude as fuck, you know that? Who are you to tell anyone how loud their music should be or shouldn’t be?” He was met with the same silvery hair and broad shoulders that had been sitting in front of him just a few hours earlier. He took note of this, never realizing that his suite-mate was also his classmate.

“Look kid, I’m not really in the mood to deal with…whatever this is. I’ve had a shit day. Plug some headphones into your amp and let people have their peace and quiet.” 

Richard looked up at the slightly taller man, taking in his appearance. It was clear that he hadn’t had the best time, he looked worse for wear, but Richard didn’t really care. He was ready for a fight so he was going to fucking get a fight. “First of all, don’t call me kid. Second of all, you didn’t answer either of my questions. Who the _hell_ are you to tell anyone how loud their music should be?” Richard stepped forward a bit, crossing his arms and squaring his shoulders to try and make himself look intimidating. 

Schneider looked at the man in front of him, surprised by the accent that he hadn’t noticed the first time he spoke. He _really_ wasn’t in the mood to fight or argue. “I’m the person across the hall that had a pretty bad day and wants some silence” he paused, thinking for a second. “Hold on,” he went into his room and rummaged through one of his drawers, pulling out a pair of headphones with an amplifier adapter on the end. “Here, take these since you _clearly_ don’t have any. Give them back…or don’t, I kind of don’t care,” he handed the item to the shorter man and was about to close the door before he spoke. 

“Uh, thanks?” Richard was completely shocked by the gesture. It would’ve seemed kind in any other circumstance, but right now it seemed selfish, just not enough to make Richard think of it too much. His anger was suddenly diminishing, and now he didn’t know what to do with himself. “I’m Richard, by the way,” he didn’t offer his hand to the other man.

“Schneider,” a pause, “bye now.” He barely waited until the other man, Richard, started walking away to close the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based the university lay out off my old uni. The dorms I'm using as a mental model are what used to be the most expensive ones for first-years. Each dorm building has 3 floors, with two suites per floor and a floor lounge in between. Each suite has 4 rooms and two bathrooms, plus a suite lounge and a small kitchen area connected to the lounge. It might sound like a lot of space...it's not. For this fic though, the suites have two rooms and one bathroom, and they're both double occupancy. I kept the suite lounge, kitchen area, and floor lounge, plus there's an elevator in the floor lounge.
> 
> The HUB is the center of campus where there's a bunch of different food places to eat from, a good handful of them have their own area in the first floor of the main building, while others have their own separate building nearby. The HUB also has chairs and tables both indoors and outdoors, and the second and third floor have offices and study lounges.


	2. Some Food, a Nap, and a Bag of Chips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This chapter's really short but I hope y'all enjoy it.

Richard took the few steps back into his room and closed the door behind him. He was still confused by what had happened. The other man, _Schneider_ he corrected himself, hadn’t been a dick on purpose this time. He was just having a rough day apparently. Rough enough to make him _not_ want to fight… damn, he must be down bad. Especially since he handed Richard a pretty nice pair of headphones just to get him to shut up. He took note of the brand and then went to order a pair online, prepared to give the other ones back when his own arrived. 

With the fire inside him completely subdued, he started to feel a little bad. Not bad enough to pity Schneider, the guy was still an ass, but it just so happened that even asses had bad days. He sat there thinking about the interaction when his stomach growled, telling him to go get some damn food like he probably should’ve done in the first place. Walking down to the dining hall, his mind went back to Schneider and the man’s eyes. They were piercing even though they looked tired. Shaking his head to rid himself of the intrusive thought, he didn’t want to think of his enemy like that, he instead tried to focus on picking out what to eat. 

Finding nothing satisfying, he decided to walk the half mile it took to go from the dormsto the University Village. He hoped one of the restaurants there captured his stomach’s attention.

____

Schneider was back in his bed shortly after the talk -or argument? Discussion? Whatever it had been- with Richard. Ten minutes passed before he heard the door across the hall open and then close again. _Thank God._ That meant Richard was out, and he didn’t have to worry about Richard’s roommate. Till and Schneider actually exchanged words here and there, and he had told him in passing this morning that he’d be out for the weekend. Finally, some guaranteed peace and quiet. 

He grabbed his laptop from the desk by his bed, put on a movie, and started watching it but wasn’t really paying attention. The frustration of the whole day was weighing on him like a pile of bricks, and it wasn’t long before the promise of sleep held him in its arms. He laid asleep for the entire 2 hour running time of the movie before he woke up to the sound of a light knock on his door. Bleary eyed and sluggish, he stood up to open the door and see who it was, but there was no one. He looked around trying to see if there was anyone walking away, and again, there was no one. Finally, he looked down and saw a small bag of chips, a water bottle, and a piece of paper that looked like a receipt folded in half. He picked up the items and unfolded the paper after closing the door. 

_Thanks for the headphones, I’ll give them back soon. Wasn’t sure what snacks you liked. Sorry about the noise and the bad day._

_-Richard_

That was…oddly nice, considering Richard looked ready to punch his lights out the first time he knocked on Schneider’s door. He sat back down on his bed and opened the chips; not his favorite but they were original flavor, so.. a safe bet. Starting on the chips, he thought about the interaction with Richard earlier. Yeah, the man had looked furious but there was something else on his face that Schneider couldn’t quite put his finger on. He recalled seeing a flash of pity in Richard’s eyes when he said he’d had a bad day. Whatever it was had Schneider intrigued. 

Finishing his chips and chugging half of the water bottle, Schneider walked out to the bathroom and brushed his teeth to go to bed. He’d shower in the morning.

___

Richard ended up at the small pho restaurant that was at the UV, he’d been here by himself once before so he knew it was good and his stomach seemed to agree. He ordered the shrimp pho the first time so he went with it again, knowing the nice broth and protein from the shrimp would do him well. It didn’t take long before his order was brought to him and he immediately dug in, the warmth of the meal washing over him like blanket that had just been taken out of the dryer. 

After he finished eating and paying for his food, he walked to the convenience store that was across the parking lot, deciding that some snacks and drinks would be good. He already had some stuff in the mini fridge in his dorm but he wanted to restock on his chips and energy drinks. Midterms were coming up in a couple of days and he had a feeling he’d need them. Once in the store, he scoured the aisles and grabbed three different types of chips for himself before moving to the drinks and grabbing a couple of water bottles and a 4-pack of his favorite energy drink. He walked by the chips again, suddenly feeling like he should do something kind for Schneider since the guy had looked like shit earlier. Unsure of what to go with, he grabbed a small bag of the original ones and headed towards the register. He added a pen to his pile of things to pay for. 

Once back at his suite, Richard carefully set his bags down and pulled out the smaller bag of chips, a water bottle, and the receipt. He scribbled on it real fast then set the things down and knocked on Schneider’s door, quickly unlocking his own door and stepping into his room. 

He heard the door open, followed by rustling of some plastic and paper, and then the door closed again. 

Richard put his bags down on his desk and put the drinks in the fridge before laying on his bed and knocking out. He’d shower in the morning.


	3. There's Only One Bathroom in this Suite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also pretty short, apologies.
> 
> I have a few chapters pre-written but I've been dealing with a little bit of writers block on top of school and work and family things so updates might take a little longer because I want to get more written before I post a whole chapter, y'know? Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy!

Schneider woke up to the sun shining on his face. Checking his alarm, he saw that it was 8am. Nice. He laid there for a bit, looking up at the ceiling with his arm on his forehead. He was feeling pretty refreshed, the emotions from yesterday mostly gone. Sitting up, he spotted the half-full water bottle from last night and drank the rest before getting up and gathering his things to shower like he said he would. Hopefully he’d able to shower in one bathroom this time. 

Once under the water, he felt the last bits of tension in his body fade, and he just felt comfortable. He took his time, relishing the feeling of the warm water running through his hair and all over his body. He closed his eyes and he massaged some shampoo through his scalp. Random thoughts about everything and nothing flowed in and out of his head, he couldn’t focus on anything, but he didn’t really want to. Didn’t want to think too much after having been so stressed yesterday. 

He was scrubbing a soapy washcloth up and down his legs when all of a sudden Richard popped into his head. And stayed. He shook his head, trying to will the thought of the other man out of his brain but was unable to. He was rinsing his shampoo out when there was a loud banging on the door. 

“HURRY UP IN THERE. YOU’RE TAKING ALL THE DAMN WATER!!!” 

He groaned as he threw his head back, recognizing the voice. Of fucking course it was Richard. There was no one else in the suite besides them two. 

“Almost done, give me a minute!!” 

“You’ve had several! HURRY. UP.” 

The man did have a point there, he was taking kind of long…but it was still annoying. “Impatient brat,” Schneider grumbled as he toweled off his hair and threw on his bathrobe. He opened the door and made eye contact with Richard, wanting to scowl but he didn’t, remembering what Richard had done last night. “Thanks for the snacks,” he said as he walked past the other man, holding the door open. 

“Yeah don’t mention it.”   
____

Richard woke up with a fowl taste in his mouth. He should’ve brushed his teeth when he got home. It was 8am and he felt like he needed to go back to bed, but he knew it’d be useless. Instead, he got up, drank some water, then studied for about 10 minutes before going to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. He gathered his things and made his way over. 

He heard the shower running once he was in front of the door and wondered who else would be up at this time on a Saturday. He waited for a bit, hoping that the person would be done soon. He was wrong. Checking his watch, he made note of the time and then walked back to his room. He studied for another 20 minutes before heading back to the bathroom.

The water was still running. Who the fuck was in there?! He knocked on the door impatiently and urged who ever was in there to hurry up. Then he heard a reply. 

Fucking Schneider. Just his luck. Couldn’t it have been Schneider’s roommate instead? 

Yeah, he’d done something nice for the guy last night but it didn’t mean he wanted to keep seeing him. He was clearly still gonna be a pain in Richard’s ass. He yelled at him to hurry up again. 

Schneider emerged from the shower with a billow of steam behind him, and Richard hoped that there’d still be warm water available so soon after having been used. He made eye contact with the other man and felt his own eyes widen when he received a thank you for the chips. Wanting to seem as casual as possible, he blurted out a quick response before walking into the bathroom and closing the door. 

He turned on the water, standing fully under the shower head, ready to feel nothing but warmth, but what he got instead was water that felt like icicles. 

“SCHNEIDER WHAT THE FUCK?!”

He didn’t miss the howling laughter that got quieter as the other man walked away. 

Back in his room, he cursed himself for thinking that maybe his suite-mate wasn’t an asshole. He’d been dead wrong, since the cold water thing had clearly been done on purpose. He checked the settings as soon as he stopped screaming and saw that they had been turned all the way on cold. Fucking prick. Any sense of pity that he may have had for Schneider disappeared. 

He had some errands to run today, mainly going to the store to buy groceries and other household stuff, so he decided to get those done sooner rather than later. He messily put some leave-in conditioner into his hair, some eyeliner, and his white contact lenses. Then he put on his outfit for the day: a pair of grey pants, tight black shirt, and platform boots. He grabbed his wallet, phone, and keys and set off, stopping by the small kitchen area to check the shared fridge and cabinets to see which of his things he needed to throw out and what needed replacements. 

“Nice boots, you’re actually tall now,” he heard coming from the hall to his left side. 

He looked over and saw Schneider, an unreadable look on his face. “Oh fuck you,” he replied shortly with a scowl on his face, and he slammed the fridge door before walking off.   
____

After his shower, Schneider hung around his room in nothing but his bathrobe for a bit, still feeling comfortable despite the small run-in with Richard. He noticed that the man was shocked that he said thank you, which kind of makes sense. He hadn’t exactly been nice in dealing with him yesterday. 

It took him a full 20 minutes to convince himself to change, not because he actually wanted to but because he wanted to make himself breakfast and he wasn’t really feeling the idea of walking out into the lounge in his robe. He brushed his fingers through his hair and put on some sweatpants and a black t-shirt. He was absolutely determined to not do much of anything today so he dressed for the occasion. He grabbed his room key and phone and walked out. 

Heading towards the kitchen, he saw a set of legs, the attached torso bent over looking into the fridge. He could only guess it was Richard. Looking down, he noticed a pair of thick looking platform boots. 

They’re cool boots, compliment him on them, he thought to himself, and words were coming out of his mouth before he thought of exactly what to say. No not like that you fucking idiot, be cool about it. He heard the sarcastic quip before he could stop himself, then he heard Richard’s response, the fridge door slamming, and heavy footsteps moving in the direction opposite of him. Damn it. He couldn’t even pretend that Richard had been wrong to respond like that. He unlocked his phone. 

“Hey what do you know about Richard from across the hall? The goth-looking one not the bear in disguise,” he texted his roommate. 

His phone beeped 5 minutes later. “Richard? uhhh not much, I have French lecture with him. I think he’s a linguistics major. seems kinda awkward but mostly cool. why, what’s up, Doom?” 

“You’re gone this weekend and so is his roommate, so it’s just me and him in the suite and well…it’s going less than stellar,” was his response. It wasn’t really a lie but he wasn’t gonna tell Paul the full truth and say that he’d been the one that started shit every single time. Or that he’s been vaguely interested in Richard since they moved in but he didn’t know his name until after he’d been a dick to the man last night. Or that he briefly thought about Richard while he was showering. 

“oh, Till’s gone? yikesssssss. well I don’t know…just steer clear I guess? maybe try and avoid him until it’s not just you two alone in a situation. seems like it might get confrontational… but maybe you’re into that shit ;) ” 

Schneider didn’t ask Paul how he knew Till’s name, he figured he met the man the same way he did, plus it didn’t matter right now. “Yeah sure, like I’m gonna stay away from him now. Big fucking chance” is what Schneider wanted to send back, but instead he went with “Yeah I think you’re right, thanks.”


	4. Groceries and a Little Bit of Payback

Richard was on the bus to the grocery store, still fuming over Schneider’s bullshit. First the shower thing and then the sarcastic comment about his boots? What the fuck was this dude’s deal? If things kept going like this then Richard would have to either kick his ass for real or file a room change request just to get the hell away from him. He was equal parts mad and disappointed, he thought maybe some progress had been made. At a loss with what to do, he put his earphones in and started listening to one of his random music playlists, distracting himself from the rocky start to his day. 

Once at the store, he pulled out his phone to check his grocery list and found almost everything within 10 minutes of being there. The only thing he was missing was something that Till had very kindly asked him to get. He dialed his roommate’s number, knowing better than to text him if he wanted a response within 24 hours. 

“Hey I’m at the store, they don’t have the pancetta you were asking for. Do you want me to go somewhere else to look for it or??” 

“Hey! No that’s fine. It’s not urgent, I can go look for it when I get back. Oh speaking of, there’s a slight chance I might not be back until Monday morning.”

“Oh okay…that’s fine I guess. Anything else you want me to get for you instead?” 

“No that’s okay thanks. You okay though? You sound frustrated. Kind of like when you’re about to go on a rant about the giraffe that lives across from us.” Till, being extremely observant even when not being able to use his eyes, pointed out. He laughed to himself at the giraffe comment. 

“Yeah no, I’m not good. Schneider the Giraffe, oh yeah I found out his name last night by the way, is being a dick. Although I guess that’s not really news is it? It’s whatever though, I can tell you about it when you get back. I don’t want to take any more of your time away from your weekend plans.” He didn’t really know where Till was, what he was doing, or who he was with, but he still felt kind of bad for pulling him away from his activities, even if it was just for a few minutes. 

“You sure? I don’t mind listening, I _do_ care.” 

“Yeah it’s okay, I appreciate it though. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, bye!”

“Alright then. Call, _or text,_ if you need anything. Bye!” Knowing he could be unreliable when it came to messaging, Till emphasized the text part, meaning he’d try and respond within a reasonable time. 

Richard thought about what Till said and realized that he actually felt the same way. He hadn’t know him very long, they met the day they moved in a month and a half ago, but there was an unspoken bond forming between the two. Must be because they actually have to see each other at the end of every day…well, most of the time. Weekends have been the exception. It was nice to have someone in his corner to support him. 

____

Schneider was skating towards campus. He finished his breakfast then ended up putting on some shoes and actually leaving the dorm building. Against his initial wish of not doing anything the entire day, he decided to get Richard a snack in an effort to make some sort of amends between them. Hopping off his board once he reached the HUB, he picked it up and walked into the convenience store on campus. Things were a bit pricey there because the university was allowed to pick the cost for what they sold, but he wouldn’t be getting much so it wasn’t like his pockets would be hurting. 

He walked towards the chips and picked up a medium sized bag of the original flavor ones. It was bigger than the one Richard had gotten him, it only seemed fair since he was a dick to Richard _twice_ in one day. He then walked over to the fridge section and looked at the drinks. He hadn’t missed the energy drinks stocked in the cabinet in their shared kitchen area, so he grabbed one and a bottle of water as well. The water was just in case he was wrong and the drinks belonged to Till, Paul and himself out of the question because they both stuck to coffee as their source for caffeine. Picking up a small bar of chocolate for himself, he went to the register, paid, and skated back to the suite. 

Once back in his room, he scribbled a note on a piece of paper, _not a receipt,_ and put a little piece of tape on it. Richard’s door has a small hook on it, so he took his chocolate out of the bag the cashier had given him, hung the rest of the stuff on the hook, and taped the note to the door. Wanting to resume his plans from earlier, he chucked off his shoes, laid in bed, and did nothing. That is…until he heard shuffling coming from nearby. 

He sprang up off his bed and moved to the door, looking through the peephole in hopes of seeing where the sound was coming from. He saw Richard standing in front of his own door, grocery bags in hand. He kept watching as the other man reached for his room key, then paused to read the note left on the door. 

_“_ Fucking prick,” was all he heard come out of Richard’s mouth before he saw the door slam shut, bag and note still where Schneider had left them. 

It was a completely valid reaction in his eyes, but it hurt more than it probably should have. 

____

Richard came back from the store with groceries in both hands, along with a bag of food from the buffalo wing place nearby. He’d put an online order in while his things were being scanned and was able to walk to pick up the food. He timed it perfectly, as his order had just been finished when he walked in. Not wanting to take too long with the warm food, and not wanting to walk even more than he already had with the groceries, he took the bus back to campus and walked to his dorm. The whole trip took about an hour and a half, a bit longer than he would’ve liked but it helped calm him down. 

Taking the elevator up to his floor, he thought about what he’d do once he finished eating. He could either study or work on the solo he was struggling with. Once he reached his door, he grabbed his room key and was about to put it in the lock when he finally noticed a bag and a note. 

_Sorry for being an asshole twice in one day. I really do think your boots are cool though._

_-Schneider_

Richard was fucking _fuming_ again in an instant. He pushed the door open and slammed it shut, leaving the bag on the door. He pulled out his phone and started typing. 

“Are you sure you can’t come back sooner? I might need someone to stop me from killing this motherfucker,” he sent, not caring that Till probably wouldn’t respond until a good few hours later…at _least._

Richard went about angrily separating the groceries and putting away whatever didn’t need to be in the kitchen, before taking the rest into the shared suite area. His phone went off about 10 minutes later, once he was walking back to his room after organizing everything. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, then saw the offending bag and note that were still on his door and took them off, grumbling before opening it and stepping inside. 

The text he’d gotten was from Till, surprisingly. Richard expected Till to take _at least_ an hour or two to respond. “Scholle what happened? Are you okay?” He used a nickname that Richard had revealed to him within a few days of meeting, telling him that hearing it helped calm him down when he was angry. 

“Giraffe motherfucker thought it’d be cute or whatever to leave some chips and a drink on the door with a fucking note that says “sorry for being a dick.”” 

“Okay so what’s the problem?” 

Was it just him or was Till not being perceptive for once? “What do you mean “what’s the problem?” ? He was being a dick and then thought some snacks would be enough to apologize with when he was a dick TWICE today for no reason? He should be apologizing to my face.” 

“Ahh okay, well, I don’t know exactly what he did since you didn’t tell me but something must’ve happened to make him think it was okay. Did YOU do anything?” 

_OH_. _Oh_. Yeah. The chips and water from last night. Richard had been so angry that he forgot he even did that. “Uh…yeah… actually. I set some chips and water and a note by his door last night.” 

“Well then there’s your answer. Not sure you can be too mad about it now, can you?”

“Yeah you’re right. Thanks Till.” 

“No problem. See ya soon.”

As much as Richard hated it, Till really was right, he couldn’t be too mad about it even if he wanted to. He took the contents out of he bag and saw that the chips he’d been given were bigger, and he even got something extra, his _favorite_ energy drink. That was kind of nice actually. Somewhat placated, he opened his tray of buffalo wings and started watching a random video on youtube. 

_Somewhat_ being the key word in this instance. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that while he couldn’t be mad at Schneider for the shit apology, he could be mad at Schneider for his actions beforehand. He sat in his anger for a while, not really planning on doing anything specific with it but still feeling satisfied. He _wanted_ to feel angry but most importantly, he wanted it to be _valid._

The next few hours went without a hitch. He practiced on his guitar, with the headphones plugged in, and studied a bit as well. He only really left his room to go to the bathroom or when he wanted something from the kitchen. He carefully avoided Schneider as much as he could, he wasn’t as mad anymore but who’s to say he wouldn’t physically react at seeing the man’s face. 

____

Schneider spent the rest of the day in his room. He was pleasantly adhering to his “do almost nothing today” goal from the morning. At one point in the afternoon, he walked out to use the bathroom and he noticed that the plastic snack bag was gone from Richard’s door. He smiled, feeling his face warm up a bit. 

With his small bit of studying done, he moved himself to the suite lounge. The school’s housing department provided each suite with a new gaming console as a way to get the residents to get to know each other, although it didn’t really work as planned. It was rare to see suite mates hanging out together in the small area. 

It wasn’t too late, about 5 pm, so he decided to play _Doom Eternal._ The game had been released a few months ago and he hadn’t had time to play it until now, which sucked because this game series was his favorite, hence why his nickname was Doom. Schneider spent about an hour and a half playing, not really paying attention to what was happening around him, if anything at all. He was the kind of person that liked to fully immerse himself into a game whenever he played, so he turned the volume up. With his body fully leaning into the TV, butt near the edge of the seat, he almost fell when he heard Richard yelling at him to turn it down. He did as he asked without even looking back at the man, feeling like it may have been wrong somehow. He sat there for a few minutes trying to get back into the zone, but it felt impossible so he shut the TV and console off, went to his room to grab his wallet, and walked back out to buy food. 

____

Richard was working on that damn solo when he heard a really loud noise coming from the end of the hallway. Turning off his amp and taking off the borrowed headphones, he listened for it again, trying to decipher what it was. There were gun sounds and explosions, along with the sound of someone talking to themselves, but that was muffled by the sounds that seemed to be coming from some speakers. Opening his door and peering out, he saw quick, bright flashes from the TV in the lounge. It must’ve been Schneider playing a game. 

He walked out of his room and shut the door quietly, not wanting the other to hear him making his way over. He stood behind the couch and waited for the game to get somewhat quite so that he wouldn’t have to yell _too_ loudly. 

“Turn that shit down! It’s too fucking loud!” There was more than a hint of bite in his tone. He laughed a bit at the guy jumping up in shock. S _erves him right,_ he thought. Not waiting for a response, he turned back on his heels and walked back into his room to eat, lay down, and maybe fall asleep. A few minutes went by and then he heard the sound of footsteps, followed by a door opening and closing loudly, two times each. Looking through the peephole was useless, so he opened his door and caught a glimpse of Schneider getting into the elevator.


	5. Getting to Know Your Fellow Schoolmates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a bit short but we're getting closer to my favorite part in the story so far. I hope y'all enjoy it!

Richard went to bed at about 10pm, he’d been tired without even realizing it apparently. The exhaustion did nothing to help his sleep though, he tossed and turned the entire time, trying to get comfortable both physically and mentally. He spent all night dreaming about a pair of deep blue eyes. 

He woke up 12 hours later, feeling like shit. He trudged out of bed, grabbed a small sandwich and some water from his mini fridge and ate in silence, trying to make himself feel better. It wasn’t working, so he opened his fridge again and pulled out an energy drink. It was blue raspberry flavor, but to him it tasted like heaven. His headache and general sluggishness were starting to go away. 

He had a good few hours to kill before he had to change into real clothes -he was going to meet one of his statistics classmates for some food- so he put on a TV series. His mind kept being pulled to the eyes from his dream. He couldn’t remember where he saw them but they were beautiful and most importantly: familiar. There was something else in them though, a combination of pain and frustration and smugness, along with something else that he couldn’t figure out. It made him uneasy. The sound of his alarm pulled him from his thoughts, letting him know that it was time to get ready. 

He went to the bathroom, showered and brushed his teeth, and thankfully managed to avoid Schneider this time. Back in his room, he checked the weather forecast and started looking through his closet. The weather said there was a chance of rain -finally, the California weather was catching up with the seasons- so he put on _another_ gray pair of pants and _another_ black shirt but with long sleeves this time. His boots were slightly different than yesterday’s, and he wore a long see-through coat, along with a hat to cover his hair from getting wet in case it _did_ start raining while he was out. He checked his watch and saw that it was 5pm. The meeting was on campus in 30 minutes so he took his time, deciding to go for a leisurely walk instead of rushing over. 

____

Schneider woke up to the sound of a door closing in the distance. His watch said it was five in the afternoon and he cursed himself for oversleeping as much as he did. He didn’t have anything to do today but he liked adhering to his 8am wake up time so that he didn’t have issues waking up for classes and work during the week. Groaning, he got up and went to brush his teeth. 

Memories of last night’s encounter with Richard replayed in his mind. He remembered how the other man laughed as he jumped and then just walked away like nothing happened. It stung. He went back to his room after a quick stop for some food from the kitchen and grabbed his phone. 

“Not leaving the suite for the rest of the day. Do you think you can bring back some beers? Or maybe something stronger?” He texted Paul. 

He got a text from Paul about eight minutes later. “Yes I most certainly can, Schnei. What’s got you down in the dumps?” 

“Nothing, just feeling like some alcohol,” he lied, “Thanks a bunch Paulchen.” He refused to tell Paul that he felt like shit because of what had happened with their suite-mate. Especially since it had been his fault. Like…basically all of it had been _because_ of him.

“Hmmm…don’t believe you but okay.” 

Schneider read the message but didn’t feel like it warranted a response, so he put his phone on his desk and laid in bed. He was frustrated, unsure of how he had let his interest in Richard turn into…this _mess._ He had spent the past few weeks carefully putting himself in Richard’s way to try and get the other man to notice him. He had no idea if it was working in the way that he intended but even if it wasn’t, that was better than Richard just outright hating him. He needed to fix this, and soon, but he also needed some advice on how to do it. Unfortunately, Paul didn’t know much about Richard, and the only person that _did_ know more about him was Till but he wasn’t available and Schneider didn’t have his number. It seemed like he’d just have to wait until Till got back or until he came up with a better idea on his own. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes before getting up to do some studying. 

____

Richard had made it to the meeting spot just in time, his classmate was waiting for him at the HUB so that they could decide what to eat. Richard looked at the man as he got closer, realizing that he looked slightly different than what he was used to seeing. It reminded him of when you see your teacher or professor out in the store instead of in the classroom. But maybe Richard just _hadn’t been paying attention_.

The reason for their meeting was purely non-academic. They had gotten to talking during the last discussion section they had, so they exchanged numbers and Richard decided to ask him to grab food. It wasn’t a date or anything, but it couldn’t hurt to meet new people, right? 

“Hey Richard! Good to see you! Nice coat.” The taller man offered a smile and a hand to shake once Richard was close enough. 

“Hey Oliver! How are you? You weren’t waiting too long were you?” Richard took his hand and smiled back. 

“No not at all, I just got here myself. You know what you want to eat?” 

“Uhh, not really actually,” he started rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, suddenly feeling nervous. “I was kinda hoping you’d have something in mind, I’m not picky so I’m okay with anything.” 

“Oh that’s fine. Yeah, I had Thai food in mind actually, it’s not on campus but the walk isn’t too far. Is that alright with you?” 

“Yeah!” Richard had seen the Thai place nearby but hadn’t had a chance to check it out yet, so this actually worked out for him. “That’s perfectly fine, let’s go.” 

The two men set off, talking about basic stuff at first, like what classes they were taking, what their major was, and what dorms they lived at. They didn’t share any classes other than statistics, but Oliver was a history major and apparently he lived in the same building as Richard, in the floor above his. 

They got to the restaurant fairly quickly, Oliver’s long legs setting a pace that Richard was struggling to match, but trying his hardest to hide his efforts. Once inside, they ordered their food and kept talking. Turns out the other man was German as well- and he spoke the language too- but him and his parents had moved to California when he was young. Richard also found out that he played the bass, so they agreed to jam a bit once they got back to the dorms. 

As the evening went by, Richard started thinking about how comfortable it felt to just be able to hang out with someone new and get to know them. He didn’t even mean that in a romantic sense, just in terms of making friends. He felt a sudden sadness, like a squeezing in his chest, and very briefly thought back to Schneider. 

He blinked the thought away. _What the fuck was that?_

_____

Paul decided to leave his band get-together a few hours early since it sounded like his friend was in dire need of some companionship. He made sure to ask one of the older people to drive him back so that he could convince them to stop by a corner store and buy the alcohol that Schneider had asked for. 

Once in the suite and in front of his door with guitar and shopping bags in hand, he braced himself, unsure of what he would find in the room. Opening it slowly, he popped his head inside and was met with silent darkness. It wasn’t too late, barely 6:30, but the blackout curtains were drawn shut. 

“Schneiiiiiii, you awake? It’s Paul. I’m home and I come baring alcohol,” he whispered while walking in slowly, not wanting to wake up the possibly-sleeping man that was laying in bed. 

“Yeah I’m awake, I just feel like shit. How was your weekend?” Schneider pushed himself up on his elbows and motioned for Paul to turn on the light. He was sure he looked like absolute crap but he didn’t care. 

“Mine was okay but it doesn’t matter. You look like you got hit by a truck, care to explain to me what happened? I was only gone for two days and you were fine when i left.” 

Schneider took in a deep breath and sighed before he started telling his roommate about the weekend, “…and yeah so now I’m pretty sure that the guy I have a crush on fucking _hates me_ and the worst part is that he’s completely justified in feeling that way.” He ran his hand through his hair in frustration and waited in deafening silence for Paul to respond. He grabbed a beer that had been put in the fridge. 

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that he doesn’t hate you.” 

He almost spit out the drink that he had taken when he heard Paul’s response. “WHAT?! Did you not listen to a single word I said?? _I’d_ want me dead if I were him.” 

“Look, all I’m saying is that from an outsider’s perspective it seems like he doesn’t hate you. _He_ spent money on you after _you_ were an asshole to him. And you know I’m right, it said so on the receipt he wrote the note on. He told you to shut up last night instead of filing a noise complaint with the resident advisor and having them write you up. He didn’t immediately kick your ass after you basically doused him with freezing water and then made fun of him 30 minutes later.” 

“I- hmm..” Schneider wanted to argue but he was coming up blank. He sat, silently drinking his beer and thinking over Paul’s words. 

“…Either that or he _does_ and he wants to hate-fuck you.” 

Schneider choked on his drink.


End file.
